- Drive from Iowa City to Spencer (5-ish hours). Lunch stop @ Panera. Am not a fan of chain bakeries but was happy to see a Panera amongst the McCrap.
- Picnic at the Spencer park, where we had very midwestern potluck snacks and met some of the locals, including Joe, a 90+ yr old character who had owned the town bakery for 60+ years. We exchanged baking stories and he promised to give me his fudge recipe. Then he told me a dirty joke.
Friday, June 2
- We are down 1 man due to illness.
- The truck ramp breaks. We have 3,300 pounds of equipment. Loading/unloading is not going to be as much fun as usual.
- On the way to lunch, we are in a minor accident with our 2 vans and a giant firetruck.
- Lunch @ previously mentioned bakery.
- Afternoon workshop & evening school show.
- Another party. Joe bakes a chocolate cake for the occasion and asks me to decorate it during the party. Am happy to oblige, as long as he doesn't share any more dirty jokes.
Saturday, June 3
- FOUR HOUR parent/child workshop.- Lunch @ the bakery, again. Gotta support the town bakery!
- Everyone, including Ron (one of our chaperones from U of Iowa) buys Keen sandals @ the local shoe store. The assimilation has begun...
- Arts & crafts workshop. The kids make hachimaki & ribbon-things they can wave around during Sunday's concert. Trish enjoys the crafting. We make Adam a get-well-soon hachimaki. Franco draws a peace sign & writes "get well!" I write "or else."
- In the evening: a 20-minute teaser performance before the YMCA dance recital. Fluffy pink girls in tutus everywhere, including Hannah, one of our die-hard fans who has been attending all of our events. She bats her huge blue eyes and asks us if we're staying for the whole recital. Sigh.
- Dinner @ The Prime Rib. Their specialty? Chicken (I kid). The only green items in their salad bar are whole, uncut scallions and iceburg lettuce. There is, however, plenty of pickled herring, red jello, and mayo-covered carbohydrates. We try their Cheese Balls (fried cheddar curds) and then throw down some serious moo.
- Dessert back in our rooms: leftover brownies (from last night's party, and they're from a mix, but @ this point, I don't care) & Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream (verdict: it ain't no Blue Bell) from the Hy-Vee. We run into a couple who had just been @ the dance recital to see their granddaughters, and they say nice things to us. How sweet.
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